Kenneth Barnard Keating (May 18, 1900 –
May 5, 1975), was an American attorney, politician, judge, and diplomat
from Rochester, New York.
A Republican, he
is most notable for his service as a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, state appellate court judge,
and a U.S. Ambassador, first to India (1969-1972), then to Israel (1973-1975). A native of Lima, New York, Keating graduated from Genesee Wesleyan Seminary (1915),
the University of Rochester (1919),
and Harvard Law School (1923).
Keating practiced law in Rochester and became active in Republican Party
politics. During World War I, Keating
served with the Student Army Training
Corps at the University of Rochester. He joined the United States Army for World War II, and was commissioned as a major. He served in India
as head of the U.S. office that managed the Lend-Lease Program for the China Burma India Theater and
was promoted to colonel before the
end of the war. Keating remained in the Organized Reserve Corps after
his wartime service, was promoted to brigadier general in
1948, and continued to serve until retiring in 1963. In 1946, Keating ran
successfully for a U.S. House seat from a Rochester-based district. He was
reelected five times, and served from 1947 to 1959. During his House tenure,
Keating developed a reputation as a moderate on many issues, which he combined
with conservative positions on Cold War anticommunism and the fight against organized
crime. In 1958, he ran successfully for a U.S. Senate seat from New York, and
he served from 1959 to 1965. Keating was an advocate of desegregation, and
played a key role in breaking the filibuster that enabled passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Keating was one of many moderate to liberal Republicans who refused to endorse
conservative Republican Barry Goldwater for president in 1964.
Defeated for reelection by Robert F. Kennedy in 1964, Keating practiced law briefly,
then won a seat on the New York Court of Appeals in
the 1965 elections. He served until 1969, when he resigned to become U.S.
Ambassador to India. He served in India until 1972, when he resigned and
returned home to campaign for the
reelection of President Richard Nixon. In 1973, Nixon appointed Keating Ambassador to
Israel, and Keating remained in this position until his death. In April 1975,
Keating suffered a heart attack in New York City while en route to visit his daughter
in New Jersey. He remained hospitalized until his death on May 5.
Keating was buried at Arlington National
Cemetery.